The co-creator of Emergency! had a great reason for not tuning in to watch his own show

"You have to psych out the appeal of your show, plus that of the opposition."

NBC

In order to win a competition, it's important to understand exactly what you're up against. If anyone understood this advice, it was Robert A. Cinader. Cinader was responsible for co-creating shows like Emergency! and Adam-12. These crime shows did incredibly well. Between the support of critics and viewers, Cinader's shows had no shortage of avid fans.

Surprisingly enough, one person who had no interest in watching these shows was Cinader himself, who confessed in The Deseret News that he wasn't routinely tuning in to watch episodes of shows like Emergency!

"I don't watch my own shows on television," said Cinader in the 1973 interview. "I watch the opposition."

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That's right; Instead of watching his own shows, Cinader used that time to watch shows that were playing at the same time as his. By studying the competition, Cinader felt that it helped prepare him for creating any future episodes.

"This is the only way to know what to do with my productions," said Cinader. "And in watching the other programs, not just those I'm competing against, I've come to the conclusion that Owen Marshall and Mary Tyler Moore have pretty good shows."

Cinader confessed that finding the proper time slot for a series was purely "analytical."

"It's about like coaching football," said Cinader. "You have to psych out the appeal of your show, plus that of the opposition."